release date: Oct. 23, 1981
format: cd (1994 remaster Extended Play)
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,38]
producer: Billy Sherrill
label: Demon Records - nationality: England, UK
6th studio album by Elvis Costello and his fourth consecutive album with The Attractions is an album of country covers recorded in Nashville, USA with producer Billy Sherill.
The '94 Extended Play version almost doubles the number of songs with its 23 tracks (the original album contains 12 songs) of which seven are live recordings (five from a concert in Aberdeen '81, one from The Palomino Club, Hollywood '79, and one live track from Royal Albert Hall, London '82.
The album was a hard one to swallow by critics and fans, I guess. Costello selected a bunch of songs that were not sheer hit-singles but still were classic country songs, and he may have felt he could do anything he wanted, so he turned to a style and genre, he had not yet excelled in. Also, the genre was perfect when considering his troubled private life with a wife and kid at home, and his ongoing relationships with new lovers on top of drug addiction issues.
Costello had been a success from the start and it's no wonder he thought he could do anything. But in restrospect, I don't think of this as one of his better albums.
Btw. the front cover is with reference to the 1963 album Midnight Blue by Kenny Burrell.
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Mojo, Uncut 4 / 5, Rolling Stone, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]
